The Holy Record of Caer Sól
This work is an ongoing attempt to chronicle the history of the world, from the rise of sin to the fall of man at the hands of Shadow, all the way to the present date; it is assembled from available records and relics from the past, many of which were destroyed or rendered unusable or unverifiable due to the dark work the Shades committed upon Frey. The Holy Record is kept within the holy city of Caer Sól and is maintained, and originally authored, by the clergy. The records from before the rise of Shadow are based on the work of Uther in translating the scraps of the Book of Sól from Celestial to Common; the records from during the occupation of Frey by the Shades are based on the work of his descendants in maintaining records during their time in Tarragon Citadel. The history of the fourth and fifth epochs are compiled from the work of many historians and clergymen since the beginning of the First Crusade. The Old World 1E: The Allfather binds the elemental lords – Ixen, Naia, Irisi, and Korth – to his will, using them to create Frey; the Prophet, the Priest, and the Prince, his three sons, are born from his holy light; the Allfather creates the elves and dwarves, who spread out and found empires; and then the gnomes and halflings, who settle among them; Sól finally creates the first humans; the petty kingdoms and tribes of ancient Man are enslaved and enthralled by the empires of the elder races; these debauched empires of the elder races fall over the centuries to the corrupting will of the Prophet, the Priest, and the Prince, who use their divine power of creation to make monsters; the Prophet, the Priest, and the Prince raise seven almighty heralds – Pride, Envy, Lust, Wrath, Greed, Sloth, and Gluttony – from amongst their unholy faithful in war against Sól; the Allfather defeats his rebellious sons and destroys the people of the five races who fell to sin; the Allfather creates a night that comes at the end of each day 2E.000: The surviving elves and dwarves of the divine war re-forge their broken kingdoms while the remaining humans found the First Empire; the Second Epoch begins; meanwhile, the western prophet Brendanus hears the voice of the Allfather, who conveys his divine knowledge of the five virtues of friendship, generosity, courtesy, chastity, and piety, among other things, most of which are encoded in the Book of Sól while Sól instructs Brendanus to intern the rest within a great stronghold 2E.050: The stronghold Caer Sól is completed by Sól’s faithful in the ancient Shrinelands of the First Empire as a bulwark against sin 2E.179: Dragons in the north devastate the armies of the First Empire, causing its rulers to lose their grasp on the northern provinces 2E.356: Followers of the word of the prophet Brendanus and of Sól’s holy light spread out across the First Empire 2E.413: The dark wizard later known as the Shadowmaker is believed to have been born approximately this year somewhere in the North 3E.474: The Shadowmaker conquers the known world, ending the dynasties of the old order; he channels the Hollow and covers Frey in an eternal night, destroying and darkening the relics and ancient cultures of the humans and the elder races while he enslaves and breaks those who do not bend to his will; the Third Epoch begins 3E.486: The heartland cities of the First Empire become the Chained Cities, teeming slave hives for the avatar of the Hollow 3E.496: The Shadowmaker’s first lieutenant, Garland, or Miltiades, builds his mountain hold, the Black Pinnacle 3E.528: The Shadowmaker’s lieutenant, Aldebrand, also known as Pyrrhus, founds the floating Shade city of Ashguard 3E.570: The holy warrior Uther is born in captivity in one of the Chained Cities 3E.589: Uther escapes from the Chained Cities to the ruined storm giant castle of Tarragon Citadel, where he finds fragments of the Book of Sól; Tarragon Citadel becomes a haven for escaped slaves of the Shades and for worship of the Allfather 3E.630: Caelestis, the least of the Shadowmaker’s lieutenants, builds a windy tower called the Celestium 3E.645: One of the Shadowmaker’s lieutenants known as Nerissa builds the underwater city of Brine 3E.662: The prophet later known as St. Merrion is born in captivity in one of the Chained Cities 3E.685: The young Merrion escapes the Chained Cities to Tarragon Citadel, where he foretells the defeat of the Shadowmaker at the hands of Sól 3E.700: Sól summons the Phoenix in Caer Sól; Shade rises to defeat him in the Shrinelands, but the Phoenix destroys the greatest servitors of Shade and defeats the Shadowmaker; Uther’s descendants in Tarragon Citadel and the remaining slaves and merchants in the brightened Shrinelands, lead by Merrion, follow the Phoenix, forming the First Crusade; the Shadowmaker’s eternal night ends 4E.701: The remains and phylactery of the Shadowmaker are taken by the trickster, Asier, to the crusaders’ headquarters at recaptured Caer Sól; a slave revolt in the North succeeds; the freed slaves escape to Caer Sól, where their leaders – Haakon Law-Mender, Kristian the Magnanimous, Tyr, Roland the Unready, Einar, and Ragnar the Hammer – swear to lead the crusaders 4E.707: Garland, Aldebrand, Caelestis, and Nerissa, the Shadowmaker’s four lieutenants, capture many of the crusaders and take them to Ashguard; the hero Islwyn Gardner destroys Aldebrand after stealing the spear Marrowstrike from his dark armory, and escapes Ashguard with the rest of the crusaders 4E.710: The First Crusade finishes dismantling the empire of Shadowthrone; the greatest holy warriors carry the Shadowmaker’s body and his greatest artifacts to the North to seal his remains within his castle in Shadowthrone; the Fourth Epoch begins; the Shadowmaker’s lieutenants, meanwhile, escape into the dark corners of the North, while the richest warriors amongst the Crusade return home to rebuild civilization; Vingulmark is founded in the North by Ragnar the Hammer; the prophet St. Merrion founds the Church of Sól with the wise men of the Crusade, who become the first seven Cardinals; the most devout warriors of the Crusade found holy and chivalric knightly orders 4E.713: The kingdom of Sunnmøre is founded in the North by Tyr 4E.718: The kingdom of Telemark is founded in the North by Haakon Law-Mender 4E.719: King Tyr of Sunnmøre dies; his younger son, Tyr Tyrssen, slays the heir apparent Valdemar Tyrssen and takes the crown 4E.720: The kingdom of Nordmøre is founded in the North by Roland the Unready 4E.722: The kingdom of Solør is founded in the North by Kristian the Magnanimous 4E.725: The kingdom of Trøndelag is founded in the North by Einar 4E.727: King Haakon Law-Mender slays the bandit lord Torvald; bandits in Solør slay Kristian the Magnanimous, leaving the throne to his son, Prince Erik the Navigator 4E.731: King Ragnar the Hammer dies; the kingsmoot, in a particularly bloody affair, ends with the crowning of Jarl Asbjörn 4E.732: The kingdom of Bregate is founded in the shadow of Lake Loinnir and Caer Sól by Islwyn Gardner and Arathir 4E.734: The crusader Elyn Proudfoot establishes himself from Deminster in the Western Shrinelands 4E.735: King Erik the Navigator takes the Soløric army across Ranrike Strait and conquers Ranrike Isle from its previous ruler, Arnulf the Noble 4E.748: Arathir dies and is sainted by the Cardinals; Roland the Unready dies, leaving the throne to his young wife, Queen Grethe 4E.749: King Tyr II of Sunnmøre begins a costly invasion of Telemark 4E.751: Erik the Navigator dies; his daughter, Brynhildr, takes the throne of Solør 4E.752: Queen Brynhildr fails to keep Ranrike Isle from falling back into the hands of berserkers and corsairs 4E.753: King Tyr II of Sunnmøre is killed while fleeing with his armies from King Haakon; Prince Bjorn takes the throne and ends the war with Telemark 4E.754: King Haakon dies peacefully; his son, Karl, ascends to the throne of Telemark 4E.759: Hrothgar founds the kingdom of Umbria in the Northern Marches 4E.762: King Karl the Younger of Telemark dies of a strange foreign malady; his younger brother, Mikael, is called to rule 4E.766: King Islwyn Gardner dies; Islwyn II, his son, takes the throne; King Tyr II of Sunnmøre dies, and his son Gorm peacefully ascends to the throne 4E.768: Asbjörn, King of Vingulmark, dies, choosing his son, Asbjörn the Lesser, to rule 4E.770: King Einar’s long reign ends as Orvar Einarsson violently takes his father’s throne 4E.775: Asmundur, general of the marcher armies of Umbria, seizes the throne and slays King Hrothgar, beginning an invasion of the neighboring kingdoms 4E.787: King Asbjörn the Lesser dies, leaving the throne of Vingulmark to Bjartur the Burning 4E.788: King Bjorn of Sunnmøre dies; his son, Bjorn, attempts to ascend; instead, the bandit lord Melker seizes the throne by force and ends the line of Tyr; King Asmundur, having expanded Umbria across the Marches, invades Telemark and Trøndelag 4E.790: The kingdom of Agrawel is founded on the western shore of the Sea of Saints by Elric Thrussell 4E.792: Asmundur slays King Mikael of Telemark and brings his kingdom under the Umbrian banner 4E.793: King Islwyn II dies; his son, Aeron I, takes the throne; the wicked King Orvar of Trøndelag is defeated by rebels, who place Jarl Asvald on the throne 4E.796: The heroic warrior Sigfrid finds the sword Durendal in an ancient ruin of Agrawel and returns to Telemark 4E.797: Sigfrid of Telemark slays Asmundur with the holy blade Durendal; Asmundur’s sons inherit Umbria and begin to split it up into different kingdoms; Sigfrid is voted king of Telemark at the moot 4E.802: Queen Grethe of Nordmøre invades the kingdom of Solør 4E.805: The village of Westmoor is founded in Agrawel by Sir Maelor Fox, who builds Fox Fortress to watch over the Hinterlands 4E.808: Melker’s son, Sven, takes the throne of Sunnmøre after Melker is killed by a flurry of orc arrows in the Trackless Forests 4E.810: The orc warlord Ghamorz Broken-Tooth successfully sieges and occupies Bregate; King Aeron Gardner escapes with what remains of his forces after the humans’ defeat 4E.812: Queen Brynhildr dies in the Battle of the White River against the invading armies of Nordmøre and Queen Grethe the Great; her firstborn son, Harald, takes the crown of Solør and slays Queen Grethe, ending the war; Grethe’s son, Ivar, becomes king of Nordmøre 4E.813: King Aeron Gardner retakes the throne of Bregate and slays the orc king Ghamorz Broken-Tooth, ending the long occupation 4E.820: King Aeron Gardner dies with no heirs, leading to the noble Caron Cyrill to establish himself as regent 4E.822: The dwarven master smith Heldrulum forges the mithral dragonslaying hammer Dracafond in the Ethereal Mountains; the dwarven heroine Jortalyn takes the hammer and sets out on a quest to slay the dragon Palarogoth 4E.824: Asvald dies, leaving the crown of Trøndelag to Athanaric Asvaldssen 4E.829: Aeron II, the bastard son of Aeron Gardner, reveals himself and kills Caron Cyrill, violently ending the regency and placing himself on the throne 4E.833: The Winter Plague appears in the North 4E.834: Ivar of Nordmøre dies of natural causes; his son, Ivar the Lesser, is crowned king 4E.835: King Harald Queen-Slayer dies of poisoning, later revealed to be the work of King Rask of Telemark; King Athanaric takes the Soløric throne; King Rask dies of the Winter Plague, leaving the crown of Telemark to his son, Jorgen the Fat 4E.836: King Elric I dies; his son, Elric II, takes the throne of Agrawel 4E.839: King Sven of Sunnmøre dies of the Winter Plague that wreaks the North; his son, Vollan, takes the throne; the mighty King Bjartur the Burning of Vingulmark dies of the plague, and the jarls allow Jarl Olaf to ascend above the prince Sigurd Bjarturssen 4E.842: The Church of Sól cures and ends the Winter Plague 4E.856: King Aeron II dies; Aeron III takes the throne of Bregate 4E.860: King Olaf is assassinated by rebels working for Sigurd Sigurdssen, who claims the throne by right of royal blood 4E.865: Athanaric Asvaldssen is mauled by wolves; his son, Wulfgar, becomes king of Trøndelag 4E.868: Prince Sven II takes the throne of Sunnmøre after the peaceful death of his father, King Vollan 4E.870: At the end of her long quest, Palarogoth nearly slays Jortalyn, who escapes, wounded and bleeding, to Agrawel and dies at the feet of the church initiate Cadogan, who takes up her hammer, Dracafond; Cadogan takes up the call of dragonslaying 4E.874: King Elric II dies; Elric III, his son, takes the throne of Agrawel 4E.879: Ardal Arvendon is born to farmers in the outskirts of Agrawel 4E.883: King Sven II dies while hunting; his son, Jorund the Great, takes the throne of Sunnmøre 4E.886: King Aeron III dies; his son, Arthur I takes the throne of Bregate 4E.887: King Sigurd of Vingulmark dies of old age, allowing his son, Dagur Sigurdssen to ascend 4E.888: Jarlath Stenet founds the town of Ayles in Agrawel’s hinterlands after seeing the fertile land from the heights of a ruined hill 4E.890: Elric IV takes the throne of Agrawel after agents of the Order of the Sable assassinate his father, King Elric III 4E.891: King Ivar the Lesser’s long rule of Nordmøre ends with the rise of his son, Prince Sigmund 4E.893: Wulfar, King of Trøndelag, dies, leaving the throne to Prince Loke 4E.895: King Athanaric the Wise of Solør finally dies of old age; his last surviving son, Sverrir, takes the throne 4E.897: King Sigfrid of Telemark, blessed of long life and peace during his time as hero of the North, finally dies after 100 years; his grandson, King Freyr, takes the throne 4E.904: The hero Ardal Arvendon forges the battleaxe Aeledfyr in the fire of the red dragon Nerroth from mithral of the Ethereal Mountains 4E.905: King Elric IV of House Thrussell surrenders his kingdom to the fearsome lich Theseus, leader of the Order of the Sable; Cadogan the Dragonslayer rides north to the White Forest, where he establishes the holy Order of the White Rose 4E.907: Ardal Arvendon and Cadogan the Dragonslayer slay Theseus the Sable and then return to Agrawel; Elric IV abdicates his throne to Ardal Arvendon; Cadogan dies of wounds sustained in the fight against Theseus; the honored paladin is buried in the Western Weald with his hammer, Dracafond; King Sverrir of Solør dies, leaving the throne to Prince Helmfrid; Dagur Sigurdssen dies, leaving the throne of Vingulmark to Sveigdir 4E.908: Ardal the Conqueror invades Bregate with the Royal Army of Agrawel 4E.913: Ardal Arvendon conquers most of the western Shrinelands, merging the kingdoms of Agrawel and Bregate and founding the kingdom of Noslith; the Cardinals forge the Griffin Crown as a gift for King Ardal I; Arthur Gardner loses his crown and becomes Duke of Bregate 4E.920: The city of Norgate is founded by Hardred Beldrec in Noslith’s northern marches; Sveigder , king of Vingulmark invades Solør 4E.925: King Ardal I weds Lady Vivianna Gardner, who begets Prince Doran I 4E.926: King Helmfrid of Solør is killed in battle by King Sveigder of Vingulmark’s fatal sword; Helmfrid’s son, Vanlade, takes the throne 4E.930: Princess Nuala I is born to King Ardal and Queen Vivianna 4E.939: Ardal the Conqueror is assassinated by agents of the Yellow Rose, an order of Bregatian nationalists; Doran Arvendon takes the throne; Archbishop Tristan of Noslith urges the Cardinals to approve the Writ of Inquisition, which they do, creating the Solist Inquisition 4E.940: The long war between Solør and Vingulmark finally ends after King Sveigder’s army is humiliated in the Lord’s Copse by Vanlade, leading to his decisive surrender E.941: The lieutenants of the Shadowmaker return and conquer Vingulmark, Solør, Telemark, Nordmøre, Trøndelag and Sunnmøre in the North; they establish themselves as the Quadrumvirate over their new empire of Ilfaine and twist the northern kings into the Six, horrifically powerful undead servants 4E.944: The Second Crusade is created by the Cardinals with King Doran Arvendon as the architect in pursuit of the Anach Edain, an elven supremacist organization blamed for the assassination of Ardal I and for the rise of Ilfaine and its undead Quadrumvirate 4E.948: Galadhor’s Keep is built by the crusader knight Sir Galadhor Rayne in the White Forest; Princess Nuala weds Lord Albin Pennec, who won glory in the Crusade 4E.950: King Doran I is assassinated by the Anach Edain; the Second Crusade ends with the Writ of Assent, tolerating worship of the demihuman gods and goddesses as aspects of Sól; Nuala, Doran’s sister and Ardal’s daughter, takes the throne 4E.953: Prince Ardal II is born to Queen Nuala and king-consort Albin 4E.958: Galadhor Rayne founds the town of Ryfall on the western shore of the Sea of Saints in Noslith 4E.971: Queen Nuala Arvendon disappears on the isle of Tor Llygad in the center of Lake Loinnir; her son, Ardal II, takes the throne 4E.974: King Ardal II weds Princess Dusanka Savaryn of the eastern Shrinelands 4E.990: Queen Dusanka dies, leaving Ardal II with no heirs 4E.1005: Dragons rise up over the Western Moors; the dragonslaying sword Dyrnwyn is forged by the elf-maiden Ghilanna Silverwing for her lover, the human hero Rhydderch; Rhydderch takes up the blade and slays the black dragon Palarogoth, ending the dragon uprising; Ardal II commissions a statue of Rhydderch to be built in Agrawel 4E.1009: Beric Meirion founds the town of Maycott in Noslith 4E.1017: King Ardal II remarries Lady Alwena Proudfoot, begetting Prince Bran Arvendon; Dragomir the Black founds the kingdom of Ceszprém in the eastern Shrinelands 4E.1031: The young Prince Bran I weds Lady Caitlyn Rayne 4E.1032: King Ardal II dies; Bran I, his son, takes the throne 4E.1036: Prince Bran II is born to King Bran I and Queen Caitlyn 4E.1038: Dragomir the Black dies of poisoning by the Anach Edain; his son, Dragomir II, takes the throne of Ceszprém 4E.1046: Murdoch Averill founds the town of Hambor in Agrawel’s hinterlands; the Weeping Plague strikes the Shrinelands 4E.1050: King Bran Arvendon dies of the Weeping Plague; Bran II takes the throne amidst plague-stricken Noslith 4E.1053: The Inquisition and the Church contain and cure the Weeping Plague 4E.1056: Lady Mairwen Fox weds King Bran II 4E.1059: Prince Alastar I is born to King Bran II and a Bregatian whore 4E.1076: King Bran II dies of pneumonia; his only son, the bastard warrior Alastar takes the throne 4E.1077: Caer Merfin is founded on Isle Merfin off the coast of Noslith by Ephraim Flann 4E.1083: King Alastar I weds the northern Princess Godelina Alfwaerd 4E.1085: Prince Rodric is born to King Alastar and Queen Godelina 4E.1089: Prince Gerwyn is born to King Alastar and Queen Godelina 4E.1092: King Dragomir II of Ceszprém passes away; his son, the ambitious and young Dragomir III, takes the throne 4E.1097: The Phoenix is reborn and pushes the Quadrumvirate into hiding before returning to Caer Sól; meanwhile, the unleashed Six wreak havoc across what remains of the frozen empire; the Phoenix’s rebirth inspires the Third Crusade, spurred on by a bloodthirsty King Dragomir III 5E.1100: The Third Crusade ends; the Fifth Epoch begins; with greater resources and unflinching military strength, Dragomir III conquers the eastern kingdoms of the Shrinelands, founding the militaristic empire of Traewyn from his seat in Ceszprém 5E.1107: King Alastar Arvendon dies; Rodric takes the throne and quickly proves to be a mad tyrant; Rodric tosses Aeledfyr, the ancestral axe of House Arvendon, into the Sea of Saints 5E.1114: Sir Keelan Meirion founds the chivalric Order of the Wyvern after the death of his betrothed 5E.1120: Emperor Dragomir III dies; Dragomir IV takes the imperial throne of Traewyn 5E.1123: Duke Gothian Gardner attempts to unseat Rodric Arvendon, leading to a civil war 5E.1128: Five years after the beginning of Gothian’s Rebellion, Rodric smashes the armies of Bregate at Cardell Hold in the Western Weald and returns to Agrawel triumphant; Gerwyn, Rodric’s younger brother, forges the sword Tyrung to replace the lost axe Aeledfyr but Rodric rejects the gift 5E.1135: Sir Leolin takes up Caledfwlch, an ancient longsword, to defeat the returned lich Theseus the Sable, unhindered by the reign of a mad king; the resurrected warlock nearly completes unlocking his forgotten tower in the White Forest, but Sir Leolin slays him and shatters his phylactery; Theseus the Sable’s apprentice, Relgir, hunts down Leolin and kills him at an inn in Norgate 5E.1140: Prince Gerwyn weds Lady Maiwen Ward 5E.1142: St. Carrick flees Agrawel to where the Sea of Saints meets the Cold River and founds the city of Newport; Gerwyn slays the mad King Rodric with Tyrung and takes the throne for himself; he is found innocent of wrongdoing by the royal court 5E.1146: Prince Alastar II is born to King Gerwyn and Lady Maiwen 5E.1164: Emperor Dragomir IV is killed by assassins in Ceszprém; Dragomir V, his son, takes the imperial throne of Traewyn 5E.1166: King Gerwyn I dies and leaves the throne to his son, Alastar II 5E.1170: Alastar II weds the mad Lady Ifanna Flann; she begets Prince Ardal III 5E.1184: Emperor Dragomir V, ruler of Traewyn, invades Noslith with his Imperial Army 5E.1189: Prince Alastar III is born to King Alastar II and Queen Ifanna 5E.1190: King Alastar II’s royal spymaster, the rogue Kirk, assassinates Emperor Dragomir V, who leaves no heirs; the nobility of Traewyn pulls the Imperial Army out of Noslith; Lord Abram I seizes the throne amidst brewing civil war 5E.1205: King Alastar II dies, leaving the throne to his son, Ardal III 5E.1220: Prince Alastar III weds Lady Caitlyn Meirion 5E.1222: Prince Gerwyn II is born to King Alastar III and Queen Caitlyn 5E.1226: Emperor Abram I of Traewyn dies, leaving his son, Veceslav I, to take the imperial throne 5E.1227: King Ardal III dies with no heirs; the throne falls to Alastar III, his younger brother 5E.1231: The chivalric Order of the Wyvern sets out from Caer Tegan to the ancient ruin of Serpent’s Rock; the knights never return 5E.1240: The northern princess Rowena of House Ceolmund weds Prince Gerwyn II; Prince Alfred I is born to Gerwyn and Rowena 5E.1253: The Fourth Crusade is formed; the holy avenger Unfale is forged for Cethern, the knight-commander of the White Rose; the Crusade banishes the Six to the dark corners of the world; King Alastar III dies in battle against the Six; Gerwyn II takes the throne; the remaining nordlings turn to nomadic, hunting tribes 5E.1261: Emperor Veceslav I dies; his son, Veceslav II takes the throne of Traewyn 5E.1278: King Gerwyn II dies peacefully; his son, Alfred I, takes the throne 5E.1280: Emperor Veceslav II of Abram’s dynasty dies with no heirs in Ceszprém; the second Traewynian succession crisis is resolved when Lord Kresimir I takes the imperial throne with support of the Church 5E.1285: King Alfred I weds Princess Briana, daughter of Emperor Kresimir I 5E.1291: Emperor Kresimir I invades the free kingdoms of the southern Shrinelands; King Didacus of Garsea forms a league of nations and allies with King Alfred I 5E.1294: Prince Alfred II is born to King Alfred I and Queen Briana 5E.1296: Didacus I slays Kresimir I; King Didacus incorporates the sovereign kingdoms of the League into the kingdom of Wraemore; Kresimir II takes the imperial throne of Traewyn 5E.1307: Elven agents of the Anach Edain, also known as the Black Brace, violently massacre a crowd of humans in Ryfall; Earl Cadoc Rayne counterattacks by burning down the Temple of Corellon where the Anach Edain hid 5E.1311: Murtagh Flann, ruler of the Isle Merfin, kidnaps Princess Deirdre after seeing her at a royal ball; Murtagh declares himself sovereign and free of Noslithic rule, provoking Alfred I to attempt to cross the Sea of Saints with the Royal Army; his fleet is lost in a terrible storm to the delight of Murtagh; however, the storm grows and consumes Lord Flann’s people; Alfred II takes the throne after the tragic death of his father 5E.1312: The village of Flaith is destroyed by the red dragon Thargaryx; Tor Bedivere is burned down and its population is devastated 5E.1314: King Didacus I dies; his son, Didacus II, takes the Wraemorite throne 5E.1316: King Alfred II weds Princess Sigrun 5E.1318: Prince Alfred III is born to King Alfred II and the northern Princess Sigrun 5E.1320: King Didacus II launches a full-scale invasion of Noslith 5E.1324: As the Wraemorite war continues, the dragon-blooded nobility’s forces nearly destroy the Arcane Academy in Bregate, prompting Alfred II to form the Order of the Griffin 5E.1327: Lady Aine Faron, Knight-Commander of the Order of the Griffin, slays Lord Authoon, Didacus’s greatest general, in single combat; Didacus II surrenders and retreats, while Aine Faron founds the village of Highmarch to the north of Lake Loinnir 5E.1335: King Alfred II dies to an infected wound taken while hunting; Gerwyn III, his brother, takes the throne 5E.1336: Emperor Kresimir II dies; Oleksander I, his son, takes the throne of Traewyn 5E.1358: King Gerwyn III is found to have hidden away Alfred II’s heir, Prince Alfred III; Alfred III slays the traitorous king and uncle and takes his rightful place on the throne 5E.1359: King Alfred III weds the noble adventuress Lady Ceinwen Cyrill 5E.1360: King Alfred III pits Faolán and Piri Niven against each other in a contest to determine his royal sorcerer; Piri Niven devises the Ambulatory Tower and wins; Prince Robert I is born to King Alfred III and Queen Ceinwen 5E.1361: King Didacus II dies; Didacus III takes the throne of Wraemore 5E.1372: Emperor Oleksander I dies; Oleksander II takes the throne 5E.1377: The Crown of Swords Inn & Tavern in Agrawel is destroyed in a battle between the dark wizard Faolán and his rival Piri Niven 5E.1378: Prince Robert I weds the noble Lady Briallen Norwood; they beget Prince Robert II 5E.1379: Prince Martin I is born to Robert I and Lady Briallen 5E.1381: King Alfred III dies to a sudden arrest of the heart in the gardens of Castle Arvendon; Robert I takes the throne and banishes Piri Niven from the castle, blaming the wizard for Alfred’s death 5E.1390: King Aneurin unites the Andarian tribes of Oed Dinas; Robert Arvendon pushes them back in the Battle of the Andarian Fields 5E.1393: King Aneurin launches another incursion against the Royal Army; Robert Arvendon slays the Andarian warlord but dies of wounds succumbed in the battle a few days later; his son, Robert II takes the throne 5E.1395: King Didacus III is assassinated by Traewynian assassins in Garsea; Didacus IV takes the throne of Wraemore 5E.1406: King Robert II is murdered by Andarian sympathizers in revenge for the death of King Aneurin; his younger brother, Martin I takes the throne 5E.1409: A nordling warlord by the name of Tyr unites many of the wild barbarians of the north left unchained after the fall of the Six under his banner 5E.1410: Nordling barbarians cut a path south through the Northern Marches to the Shrinelands, lead by Tyr 5E.1413: King Martin I allies with Oleksander II and Didacus IV in response to the northern invaders; the marcher knight Sir Veremund slays the warlord Tyr and aids the sovereigns in pushing the barbarians back north past the Vast Mountains through Crusader’s Pass 5E.1420: King Martin I weds Lady Alys Proudfoot 5E.1422: Prince Robert III is born to King Martin and Queen Alys 5E.1425: The aging Emperor Oleksander II dies; his only heir, Oleksandra I, takes the throne 5E.1435: Prince Richard I is born to King Martin and Queen Alys 5E.1439: King Didacus IV dies; his son, Velasco I takes the throne of Wraemore 5E.1448: King Martin I dies peacefully; his son, Robert III, takes the throne; Robert III weds Princess Natasha, Empress Oleksandra’s daughter, begetting Prince Martin II 5E.1467: King Robert III succumbs to death at the summer solstice; his son, the young, hopeful Martin II takes the throne 5E.1469: King Martin II is murdered by Infernal Pact assassins in Castle Arvendon; his uncle, Richard I, is forced to take the throne; the Infernal Pact’s strongholds are raided by the Inquisition and the White Rose 5E.1470: Empress Oleksandra I dies; Kresimir III, her son, takes the imperial throne of Traewyn 5E.1473: King Velasco I of Wraemore dies; his son, Velasco II, takes the dragon throne 5E.1474: Civilization begins to return to the frozen north, years after the fall of Ilfaine and its oppressors, the Six; King Richard I weds Lady Saoirse Thrussell 5E.1476: Prince Richard II is born to King Richard Arvendon and Queen Saoirse 5E.1490: King Richard I dies; Richard II takes the throne 5E.1494: The marcher Princess Aoife marries King Richard II 5E.1498: The Half-Moon Heresy wreaks havoc across the Shrinelands, especially Noslith; Knight-Commander Pelleas of the White Rose dies in battle against the werewolf horde; his half-elven foster sister, Tyffayne, takes his place, while Inquisitors assassinate the leaders of the Half-Moon army 5E.1499: The Rasping Pox, a locust-plague, sews death across the Shrinelands; the Inquisition and the Church successfully contain and purge the infestation after months of death 5E.1500: Princess Calanthe is born to King Richard II; Queen Aoife dies in the days afterwards 5E.1502: Emperor Kresimir III dies; Kresimir IV takes the throne of Traewyn 5E.1506: Duncan Gardner takes the dukedom of Bregate after the death of his ancient father, Duke Jafrelot 5E.1521: The Rasping Pox re-appears in the city of Bregate in Noslith; a spree of priest assassinations bereave Noslith’s clergy, starting with Father Tihomir of Blackbridge; agents of the Church and a group of adventurers uncover an Infernal Pact conspiracy linked to the assassins 5E.1522: The cardinals approve the Writ of Redoubt, forming the Fifth Crusade in response to the assassinations of priests by Infernal Pact agents; Baron Reiner Faron is designated as the High Marshal The World Born Anew in the Light of Our Phoenix Empress 0 IE: Dawn of the Imperial Era of Izevel and the beginning of the Endless Reign of the Phoenix Empress, Desdemona Terminus. Desdemona Terminus ascends to godhood and creates the Plagueborn. The corruption of the Fifth Crusade into the Black Crusade and the formation of Caer Tenebris from the former holy city of Caer Sol leads to the dismantling of the Solist regime that once united the feudal kingdoms of Frey. Those still faithful to Sol and House Arvendon retreat to the Last Kingdom, based in Newport. A great Deluge consumes Frey as Ashtoreth tears open a wound in the firmament of the world, creating a permanent rift to the Abyss and forming the Lake of Darkness. The last battle is fought at Newport, where House Arvendon is snuffed out by the forces of the fallen houses of Noslith. The Last Kingdom is destroyed; some escape to Traewyn with Isolde Thorne, into the protection of Infernal rule, while others escape with the Great Nemesis, Tegwen Beldrec, into the elven forest of Gaelathara and into the sanctuary of Queen Alastriel Ansravain, Myrkwood. Supposedly, Tegwen escapes with the child of Calanthe Arvendon and Henry Malvern, but reports are conflicting. The Phoenix Empress makes an appearance at the new imperial capital of Moridhel, built around the elven namesake citadel about the heights of the newly risen isle of Mount Forlorad and sunken Isle Merfin. Ashtoreth anoints the 1,143 Plagueborn as her princes and priests, creating an official state religion in the Children of Ashtoreth, causing a schism between those loyal to the god-empress and those loyal to the demon lords in the Abyss. Ilia Aurelian remains the Grandmother of the Temple of the Demon Lords, moving to the Temple of Tiamat in the Western Moors, while a Plagueborn Baron Trefor Thorne becomes Ashtoreth’s new Black Cardinal, renamed the Bearer of the Tainted Lantern. The sudden formation of the Izevelan empire, the Deluge and the corruption of the Sun leads to the self-destruction of the Istrian capital city of Avredence by its paranoid rulers. Traewyn looks to annex Istria, preparing itself for war beneath the scourged sun. Three stars fall from the sky to the embattled and broken landscape of Frey. 13 IE: Noslith is pacified under the reign of King Elric Thrussell of Bregate and the Hinterlands, Prince Mordred of Kingsfall, and King Ethelhelm Beldrec of Cumbria. Sworn to the empire, the Kings provide an army to support the Black Crusade, the Plagueborn and the Court of Locusts in their conquest of the Old World. The Black Crusade launches an invasion of Traewyn and Brecilien with the undead armies of Count Augustus Aurelian, Count Uriel Hieremias and Count Nazar Alphaeus; the Izevelan army invades the Northern Marches with Count Riordan and Countess Arianwen, while Count Caius and Countess Briallen infiltrated the decadent, dragon-obsessed post-Deluge culture of Wraemore to the south. Istria is annexed by Traewyn. The actions of the Court of Locusts in corrupting Wraemore lead Emperor Kresimir IV of Traewyn to finally declare the Archbishop of Ceszprém the new First Cardinal of the Solist Church; Wraemore discards Solism in response and devotes itself to Bahamut instead, with King Velasco II’s death and King Velasco III’s crowning leading to the creation of the Platinum Throne and the Church of Bahamut. 18 IE: The province of Brecilien is annexed by the Black Crusade and the Court of Locusts, who begin to look inward, pacifying the region. Kresimir invokes the Writ of Redoubt one last time, forming the Last Crusade. Kresimir invites the Northern Marches into his Solist league, declaring himself High Marshal and the Heir of God and declaring undying holy war upon Izevel. 19 IE: The kingdom of Argyll is annexed by the Court of Locusts and the Izevelan army. The King of Argyll, King Llyr Etain, is slain and dismembered by Count Riordan, his parts sent by a swarm of crows to his surviving daughter, Queen Morrigan Hargrave, the wife of King Emrys Hargrave, the late ruler of the kingdoms of Midland and Deira. Riordan turns Prince Arawn Etain, the heir apparent to the throne of Argyll, into a wicked beast that he unleashes upon the capital of Deira, causing untold destruction. The desperate Queen Morrigan offers her hand in marriage to the Traewynian emperor. 20 IE: The capital of Midland is conquered by Cumbrian berserkers the night before the wedding of Kresimir and Morrigan, who invaded through ancient Umbrian tunnels; Kresimir arrives the next day to find his fiancee and her court slain by King Beldrec, who then killed the emperor before the shock could fade from his face. His stunned and decapitated head becomes the battle standard of the Cumbrian army, who help conquer Midland and Deira. The resulting power vacuum in Traewyn results in the crowning of an Infernal emperor from House Drekavac, who becomes the new High Marshal of the Last Crusade and Heir of God. The remnants of the Northern Marches unite under a supposed heir of Asmundur’s bloodline, who declares himself under the same titles. 45 IE: King Velasco III, lord of the Platinum Throne of Garsea, succumbs either to old age or to poisoning by Tiamat-worshipping assassins. Wraemore without its king turns to the star of the court: the powerful sorceress Icara Inundar, the Countess of Tarragona and leader of the black house of Wraemore, who made a pact with the Court of Locusts in 18 IE. Icara ascends to become Queen of Hevarria under Izevelan rule, prompting Domina to cede from its union with Hevarria. The dragon houses of Domina go to war with the Empire with support from Thalassa. Brine rises from the depths of the sea between the Glass Isles, floating North to Ilfaine, where it is joined by three other floating citadels. The empire of Ilfaine is remade under a reborn Quadrumvirate. The sudden change in the power dynamic of Frey results in the first significant advance in the Last Crusade in 27 years: forces of the Empire conquer Olonia, annexing the Traewynian/Wraemoran province. 51 IE: An aging Asmundur is contacted by the court of Myrkwood, who reinvigorate the king and confirm him as the true royal blood of the North. Asmundur Twice-Reborn returns to Umbria from the elven forest blessed by youth and vitality and leads his forces to war on two fronts, invading Istria, then a ruined province of Traewyn. At the advisement of the Great Nemesis, the Heir of God takes Princess Andraste Ansravain as a wife, uniting the elven forest kingdom with the empire of Umbria. 66 IE: The republic of Domina is reconquered by the Empire. The Dominan senators descended from the dragon houses are corrupted and melded together into one hideous beast, the Simuluna Voce, by the magic of Briallen Morvudd. Tanith either ignores and defends against any attempt at contact by the Empire. The end of conflict in the south leads to sudden pressure in the war in Kalava, leading to the Traewynian emperor to cede the territory to the Empire in an Infernal treaty that creates a sort of peace between Traewyn and Izevel. The Blood War enters a cease-fire. Meanwhile, in the north, Asmundur conquers Istria with the might of the Great Nemesis behind him; a prophecy is made that should the Blood of the North unite with the Blood of the Last Kingdom, then the scourge of the sun shall be lifted. Tegwen pressures Asmundur to marry one of the daughters of Noslith’s royal line, but Asmundur refuses to take a second wife or divorce Andraste, turning his attention instead to the rumors of a vestigial god hidden amongst the secret vaults of ruined Avredence, the largest city in the world before the return of Izevel. 77 IE: After a fifty-seven year-long campaign, Meonwara is annexed by Izevel, while King Asmundur, Queen Andraste, and a party of adventurers successfully complete a ten-year-long delve into the ruins of the city of Avredence and uncover the vestigial remains of a chained god of greed, an esoteric deity siphoned for wealth by the nobles of Istria. The Umbrian emperor returns to his kingdom a demigod, and promises to reconquer the Northern Marches, beginning an invasion of occupied Meonwara. Thirty-two years after its rebirth, the rule of the Quadrumvirate is feared across the ruined empire of Ilfaine. The Six Kings are taken anew and begin to enslave the lost northern tribes, twisting them from elementalism to the Children of the Six so they might build monuments unto their returned lich-kings. The frozen lords look instead now south to wartorn Umbria as it begins to flourish under the reign of its God-King. Infernal Traewyn enters a period of stability as it begins to look towards preserving the Firmament itself against the machinations of Ashtoreth. Hammerfall Bay, a united league of neutral dwarven mountain kingdoms and human trade consortiums, begin trading with Ilfaine, Izevel, Tanith, Traewyn, and Umbria, who all begin to exert influence in the region to some degree, although are unable to take a foothold due to the appearance of other foreign interests in the region, like those of Khabad, Quluy, and the Far East. 132 IE: The reconquest of the Northern Marches is concluded at Argyll, where the vampires Riordan and Arianwen are beaten back to their flagship by the immortal king Asmundur. The holy emperor turns instead to his empire, and Andraste issues forth a son and a daughter, two divine half-elves. However, servants of the Quadrumvirate begin to intervene directly in the region based on plans seeded decades ago; Asmundur calls upon his old adventuring band to safeguard the kingdom in his stead, forming the Sacred Blades as he gives a shard of divinity to each in the form of nine swords. The aged adventurers are reinvigorated with new life and vitality, and thus spread out across Umbria and found sanctuaries for adventurers as they fight off the servants of Ilfaine, Tanith, Traewyn, and Izevel. 200 IE: The Rasping Year. Ashtoreth unleashes the Rasping Pox upon the world once again, reappearing upon Frey to admonish her servants and order them to wipe Umbria from the face of the world. The return of Ashtoreth prompts Asmundur to call the Sacred Blades back to Kirkhall; only eight return. The ninth is never seen again; some tell that she was the princess who Asmundur refused, gone into hiding with the Ninth Blade so that the prophecy may yet come to pass, or perhaps the Ninth Blade was a divine prince himself, the product of their wrongful union. Only those who believe the lies of the Great Nemesis would suggest such a thing, however. Andraste dies of the plague, while the eight Sacred Blades die bereft of their divinity, returned to Asmundur. Asmundur Twice-Reborn looks to Noslith as he leads his armies towards the Worldwound. An enormous sunken city is called from the depths to the north of Ilfaine at the world’s rim believed by some to be Shadowthrone. 201 IE: Beneath the sunscourged sky, Ashtoreth descends before the holy army of Umbria and her own demonic host, Gungnir held aloft before her. The spear of the Allfather splintered Asmundur’s helm in twain, cracking his skull as it obliterated the king’s head, brains and crown. Then, as the army’s arrows fell uselessly about her, she ate the god-king, consuming his divinity whole, grinning and laughing all the while. The holy army was shattered then, and those who did not join Ashtoreth died in the fields or died with their families in Umbria when the Empire came for them. Within a single year, the holy empire of Umbria collapsed, the princes and kings having long made plans to betray Asmundur for Ashtoreth, seeing little difference between god-emperors. Thus the Heir of God did fail, unable to defeat Ashtoreth with only eight ninths of his power, unable to lift the scourge from the sun without the Blood of the Last Kingdom. Some say the Heir of God gave his life to ensure that the prophecy would come to pass, however: that he died so that Ashtoreth would never think the Blood of the Last Kingdom to be her enemy, to be that which would cause her downfall, the Ninth Blade to destroy the Ninth God. The Great Nemesis returns to hiding in Gaelathara while Istria is annexed by Infernal Traewyn in the chaos of Umbria’s fall. The world settles into stability without Umbria, a careful stalemate held between Ilfaine, Izevel, Traewyn, and Tanith through constant civil war and occasional conflict between empires. Each power begins to turn to the Thalassan passage, a way across the Vast Sea through the Crater Isles to the New World. The western continent promises new wealth and power for those who dare to traverse the treacherous, mysterious coasts, while the isles of Thalassa itself are hotbeds of intrigue since the falling of the Second Star in the wake of the Sunscourge Heresy. 276 IE: The Infernal Empire completes construction of the Anchor of the Firmament in Drekavac’s capital, ending the growth of the Worldwound and pausing the erosion of the firmament. The Blood War resumes, although the stalemate between Izevel and Traewyn goes unchanged. 297 IE: Current date. The Izevelan Empire has established a stranglehold over Thalassa threatened by the servants of Hell, Ilfaine, and Shade, who seek to find whatever Izevel is looking for first.Category:Lore